Wings of Redemption
by Redemption's Avenger
Summary: It's a normal, boring survey mission on the Redemption, but, as always, trouble always seems to find the ship, and the crew is flung to the twenty-first century. But, it turns out, they get more than just a case of temporal displacement as the shadows of eagles and wolves fall on the ship.
1. Chapter 1

_July 13, 2411_

 _Delta Volaris Cluster_

 _PK-452642B System_

 _U.S.S. Redemption Mess Hall_

I ripped into the steak with great vigor. I tried to take my mind off the monotony of the survey. I closed my eyes and listened to the conversations around me.

"Why is an _Avenger_ out on a survey mission?" A petty said to an ensign. That was what I was thinking. I'm one of the best out there, so why am I stuck on a patrol when I should be blowing up Borg? I was about to toss another piece into my mouth when the intercom went off.

"Captain to the bridge."

I planted my head on the table, sighed, took one last bite, and ran off to the bridge.

* * *

I stepped out onto the bridge. "This better be good, Commander."

The Andorian stood up and turned to me. "We just detected a rift two hundred kilometers in front of us."

I frowned. Sensors should have detected it by know. "Yellow Alert. Nelen, are we in range to do a detailed scan?"

The Voth science officer nodded. "We were in range five minutes ago."

I nodded. "Start scans."

The _Redemption's_ deflector dish began to scan. Then, of course, things went to shit.

Having turned around to take the Chair, I was in the process of sitting when the ship shook. I lost my balance and fell in between captain's and the first officer's chairs. It would have been almost comical if we weren't in this situation.

"Report!" I yelled as I pulled myself up. The ship had automatically gone to Red Alert.

"A second after we started scanning, the rift's gravitational pull multiplied!" Nelen yelled. "We're being pulled in!"

"Shannon, full reverse!"

"Aye sir!"

The _Redemption_ strained against the pull.

"No affect!" Shannon said with alarm. The rift grew closer on the viewscreen and the shaking intensified.

"All hands, brace for impact!"

* * *

 _April 29, 2013_

 _Elevation_ _: 1 mile_

 _Somewhere above_ _Virginia_

Flying. There's nothing like it. You can describe it in poems, songs, whatever. It can't beat the real thing. Especially when you're flying with your family.

And above the clouds.

No, we weren't on a plane, or using gliders. Just wings. As in the flap-like-a-bird kind.

I'll assume you've heard of me. (If you haven't, get with the program.) My name is Maximum Ride. I've been though what seems like everything, wolf-hybrid attacks, whitecoats, genocidal madmen. But having an freaking spaceship fall from the sky right in front of me is a first.

It was like any normal day in the lives of genetically mutated bird kids. Iggy and Gazzy were "experimenting" with the fine art of farting. I stayed well clear of them. Nudge was trying to fix Angel's hair in midair. And Fang- he gave me one of his half-smiles. I turned away, trying to hide my huge blush.

Then the spaceship fell.

It screamed out of nowhere. It was covered in a black tinge that shone dully, was the size of a aircraft carrier and gave off this weird thrum. I as I backpedaled hard, I caught a glimpse of a word written on the side of it; _USS Redemption._ Then it fell into the clouds.

"What the hell was that?!" Total said from my jacket.

No one answered him as there was a distant boom. I idly wondered if it hit the ground before it rose from the clouds on a pillar of flame. (Bird kid poetry there.) It pointed it's nose to the sky, and, with a deafening roar, was gone within seconds.

Everyone just stopped there before I said, "Lets find a place to spend the night."

* * *

"We're caught in the planet's gravity well!" Nelen shouted over the chaos.

"Thrusters!"

The _Redemption_ fought against gravity, and slowly won, but not before falling beneath the cloud layer. I swore I saw some birds above the clouds. With a final jolt, the shaking stopped.

"We have stabilized." Shannon said.

"Take us out of atmosphere and engage cloak."

Soon we were in space and out of sight. "Debriefing in fifteen minutes. I want to know what the hell happened. Thorin!" I shouted over the intercom. "Briefing in fifteen. I want a damage assessment."

* * *

"What the hell happened?" I asked Nelen.

"It was some kind of wormhole. Took us all the way back to Earth."

I put my face in my palms. This was not a good day. "Let me guess." I said. "We went back in time."

"Ummmm, yes. 2013 to be exact."

I just sat for a second. "Can we get back?" I asked him.

"Not as of yet. I have the entire science team analyzing it."

I turned to Thorin. "Go ahead."

"We're pretty fine across all decks, but some warp coils were knocked out of alignment."

I groaned. That mean landing on the surface, using shuttles to lift the warp coils, and replacing them from the industrial replicator.

"How long?" I was not looking forward to the DTI.

"Three days."

Three days. Three days in a world looking outwards and for alien life.

"We could land in a severely isolated area." Thorin suggested. "Then I could modify the cloak to cover us from above and extend the field to cover the shuttles."

I nodded. The plan sounded good. I looked around the table. They were in agreement too. "Do it."

* * *

 _Virginia_

 _Somewhere in the Appellation Mountains_

I directed the flock to a large clearing, where, after a quick dinner, and a huge discussion over what we all saw we took to the trees to sleep. I offered first watch. I stared into the sky, wondering if that ship was up there. My eyes started to droop. I closed my eyes, about to fall into sleep, but not before I heard a distant thrum. I didn't realize for second as the noise got louder. I snapped my eyes open and looked up. The thrum was getting closer, but where was the ship? I crouched on the branch and unfurled my wings, about to look for it, but all of a sudden, it appeared out of nowhere. It was hovering about five hundred yard off the ground.

"Guys!" I yelled over the noise. "Wake up!"

They snapped awake immediately.

"What's going on?!" Iggy shouted, being blind and everything left him disoriented from the omnipresent hum.

I left the others to answer him as I watched doors open on the underside of it and what looked like landing gear extend from it. The incredibly topheavy-looking craft floated down and landed.

"Max?" Nudge asked tentatively. "Who are they?"

"I don't know." It couldn't be whitecoats. They would have caught us long ago if they had this. Speaking of which, they would love to get their hands on this. I turned to our native mindreader. "Angel?"

"There's no hostile intent, at least not to us." She closed her eyes. After a moment, she snapped them open. "There's over five hundred people on board."

My mouth hit the floor. At that moment there was a loud clunk from the ship and a door on the back started to open. Out flew several boxy little ships, actually quite cute-looking.

"Max." Fang said, communicating sentences with a word.

I nodded. "Lets move farther away."

* * *

 _April 30, 0900 hours_

 _U.S.S. Redemption_

 _Bridge_

I was watching the work through the rearview camera. Progress was slow. We only had a few warp coils to fix on the starboard nacelle, but the entire port nacelle's warp coils were fried. I sighed and felt the need to get out.

"I'm going for a walk." I told Tallasa.

She nodded. I went down to the armory real quick to grab two Compression pistols, my gauntlets, and a tricorder. I set the pistols to stun. I walked out down the ramp and took off into the woods.

* * *

"Ok, we've seen the same spaceship twice. How much of a coincidence is that?" I said, taking a seat on a tree stump.

"Oh, I would love to get my hands on the explosives on there." Gazzy said evily.

I gave him the look and turned to Angel. "What did you feel on there?"

Her eyes unfocused as she remembered. "I felt some definite human presences, but there we some on there that felt... different. Not wrong, but different."

"Should we talk to them?" Nudge asked, being the only one out of all of us that had any social grace.

"No." Fang and I said at the same time.

"Talk to who?" A voice that I knew all too well. I turned around and a person that should be dead stood there.

"Why can't you stay dead?" I told Ari. Totally alive, not dead Ari. Who was probably another copy. Because he had died. _Twice._ And guess who was behind him. Normal, everyday Erasers. Who were supposed to be extinct. Why do they keep coming back from the dead?

"Because I want _you_ dead." He said, smiling the entire time. Definitely a copy.

"Let's get this over with." I said, unfurling my wings. Ari roared and went wolf while the flock sprang into action. I jumped over Ari in a wing-assisted leap, and brought my feet down on a surprised Eraser. I turned and clapped my hands on another's ears and his eardrums popped. I heard a roar behind me and turned to block Ari. I gave off a series of fast, unpredictable punches. Ari stumbled back, but recovered and lunged.

* * *

 _100 meters from battle_

I sighed. I had taken a quick jog into the forest and was about to turn around to go back to the _Redemption_ when I heard a roar. I stopped. That was close. I pulled my pistols and creeped towards the noise. I as I approached I began to hear the sounds of a full-fledged hand-to-hand battle. I pushed a brush aside and I stopped dead. There, in the clearing was wolfs and kids with wings. Now, it wasn't the weirdest thing I've seen, but it was pretty high up there. There were about thirty wolfs standing, and about six bird kids, and they were holding their own. One particularly large wolf rose to face a teen with beautiful brown wings. So far she had taken out ten wolfs, but this particular wolf seemed to slightly scare her. These wolves seemed to want to kill them all. I quickly flipped my pistols to kill and raised one on the big one's head.

* * *

I parried Ari and gave him a face full of feathers. He stumbled back and slashed at me, but I had already jumped back from him. I prepared myself to jump back, but another Eraser clotheslined me with a fist. I stumbled, seeing stars. Ari came up and slashed, tearing my side to shreds. I fell to my knees, too shocked to cry in pain and holding my side. Ari laughed and raised his claws. No one was in sight to help me. No Fang. What happened next was kinda a blur. What looked like light hit Ari full on and he stumbled to the side. Then a bolt of light struck his head and his head _exploded._ I mean, blood and brains. I didn't have much time to ponder as I passed out.

* * *

I erupted from the bushes, pistols set to full auto and moving down the wolves while running to the fallen kid. One man came to face me and swung with a claw. I blocked with my gauntlet and embedded a blade in his throat. I brought my pistols on the last man, but an eight-year old placed a devastating uppercut. I dropped beside the teen and brought my tricorder across her wound. Quite deep, one broken bone, two bruised. To stop that she had a mild concussion. I lifted my jacket, ejected one of my blades and cut off some of my undershirt. I wrapped it around my hands and applied pressure on her wound.

"MAX!" A shrill voice said. All the kids were running towards me and, well, Max.

"She needs medical attention." They all tensed at that. I sighed. "Look, I'm trying to help. I have a way to get her to help instantly. If you need to stay with her, fine. Just don't freak out."

The tall one with dark hair seemed to be thinking. I just couldn't read him.

"Fang." The small blond one said. "He's ok."

Fang nodded. I tapped my combadge. " _Redemption,_ seven to beam directly to sickbay. One female teen in need of immediate medical assistance. Have a security team on standby."

The shimmer washed over us and I saw the kids eyes widen.

* * *

I materialized on the medbay's floor and was immediately swarmed with medical personnel.

"Deep wound, two bruised ribs, one broken and she has a mild concussion. She's lost a lot of blood." I told the Bajoran doctor Darmk. "I don't think normal blood will work." I said, eying her wings and the other kids, who were marveling at the ship.

Darmk nodded, examining the ship scans as the nurses lifted Max onto the main table. Fang was at the bed side immediately. I dropped my rags and pushed him away from the table. "She's in capable hands, but you need to stay back."

Fang seemed to want to resist, but he decided against it and sat down on another bed.

"Captain." Darmk called. I came over to him and his console. "You were right. I've never seen anything like this. It's human-avian DNA. I can't synthesize any right now, but she needs some blood."

"Alright." I turned to Fang. "We-"

"We'll do it." He said interrupting me. "Iggy and Max had to give blood for me once. We'll do it again."

One of the nurses went and got the blood while Tallasa walked in and saw the five standing kids. "Captain." She called. I turned. She indicated the medical office.

"Computer, close biohazard door." The door shut and Tallasa turned on me.

"What are five kids from our past doing on board!?"

"They were fighting for their lives with these wolf hybrids. Tallasa, these kids have _wings_."

Tallasa's eyes grew wide and she looked at the kids who were sitting on the beds.

"Captain, you need to get out here." Darmk called over the intercomm. " _Now._ "

"On my way." I hit the door control. As I walked out, Darmk was once again pouring over his console. Max may have looked bad, but it looked like the staff could handle it.

"Sir, I don't think you'll believe this." Darmk looked up at me. "These cells regenerate super-fast. I haven't seen anything like this since-"

"Khan." I said, looking at Max, and watched as a cut sealed up. "Their Augments."

* * *

 **Author's notes:** MAAAAAAAAXXXXXXX! No, wait, wrong person. *cough*This takes place between the books Max and Fang. Also, in STO time, this takes place before the Delta Quadrant and the renewed Undine threat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wings of Redemption**

* * *

 _Earth_

 _U.S.S. Redemption  
_

 _Sickbay_

 _1100 hours_

I was in the middle of a make-out session with Fang when conciseness came knocking, yelling, "GET UP MAX!"

"Five more minutes." I said, trying to get back to my dream. I felt a pinprick on my neck and I immediately made the connection. Someone had stuck a needle in my neck.

"Hyyah- AHHH!" I yelped as I jumped up, only to be put down by some invisible force that gave me a shock. I struggled against the field. "Your Force powers have no effect on me!"

I heard someone crack up, then Angel's face appeared above me. "Max, it's alright. Their here to help."

"How many times have I heard that?" I said as I tried to wiggle my arm out.

"Max." I heard Fang call out. "You're alright. They fixed you up."

"Who's they?" I asked, relaxing as I heard his voice.

At that moment the field shut off. I sat up and turned. The entire flock was here, but I looked like I was in a hospital, but something was different.

"Me." A voice said, and a man stepped into view. Now, I'm not much with fashion, but those clothes were positively outdated. "Vice Admiral Wedge Antilles, captain of the _U.S.S Redemption._ "

The first thing I though was, great, the military. But the name _Redemption_ rang a bell. Then it clicked in my messed-up brain.

"Wait, we're on?"

"Yes Max!" Gazzy said, positively bouncing. "WE'RE ON A SPACESHIP!"

Then he farted.

* * *

 _Earth_

 _U.S.S Redemption_

 _Directly beneath starboard nacelle  
_

Ensign Karan sighed. Of course. The most recent batch of warp coils were messed up, completely useless.

"Send them back." She told the petty. He nodded and took the shuttle back up. Karan typed some orders onto her padd. Then the Trill heard some rustling. She turned around and looked. Placing the padd down she walked towards the bushes. As she laid her hand on the bush, a fist came out and she met blackness.

* * *

 _U.S.S. Redemption_

 _Sickbay_

" _Airborne toxins detected. Biohazard protocols in effect."_

"Computer, belay that!" I said, coughing. "Increase sickbay life support by 100 percent!"

" _Confirmed._ " Immediately the fresh air started flowing.

"God, Gazzy!" Max said.

"Sorry!" He said sheepishly.

I stumbled over to the door and opened it, hanging onto the door frame. Crewmen passing by looked at me, and I gave them the glare. "Trust me, if you smelled that, you'd be doing the same thing."

The crewmen picked up the pace, some covering their noses. I pushed back into the room and the door closed.

"Computer, mark all places where the Gasman has farted and schedule those rooms for barion sweeps, deep cleaning, and air refreshers."

" _Acknowledged._ "

I looked at the kids and an idea crossed my brain.

"You kids hungry?"

"Famished." Iggy said.

"Follow me."

I led them out into the hallway, a security officer taking the rear of the group. As we were walking to the turbolift, I asked Max, "So, are is there anything else I need to know about you kids?"

Max started listing stuff off her fingers. "Angel is a mind reader, Fang is quiet and stealthy. Nudge can hack anything by feeling passwords, and can draw metal to her. Iggy is blind, but super accurate. Gazzy, well, you saw what he did, and he can mimic voices perfectly. Both can make explosives out of anything and know more about weapons and explosives than a military expert. Angel, Fang and I can breathe underwater. To top it we need about 5000 calories a day."

I nodded. "Computer, classify explosive schematics and replicator patterns from Gasman and Iggy. Also deny access to armory, torpedo bays and handheld phasers. If explosive material or weapons are detected in their vicinity, beam it to the armory."

Almost immediately I heard the noise.

"Hey! Were'd my bombs go?" Gazzy protested.

"Armory." I said as I called the turbolift. It arrived and I stepped in.

"Ummm, could I take something else?" Max asked, fearfully eying the turbolift.

"Jefferies tubes are more claustrophobic. I'd advise you take the turbolift."

She reluctantly stepped in.

"Mess hall."

As the door closed, the thought hit me. I was in a small, crowded cylinder, with the equivalent of a nuclear stink bomb. Luckily, the turbolift was fast and I stepped out a little too quickly.

"Mess hall's this way."

I stepped in. The kids marveled. The big windows showed a great view of the forest, and someone had removed the glass, which was pretty hard considering they were in recessed niches, but fresh air from the outside flowed in the room. I was tempted to reprimand whoever removed them, but I liked incentive.

"Where's the food?" Nudge asked.

"Over here." I led them over to the replicators.

"Just say and specify the food you want and it's ready for you. For example, shrimp cocktail."

The food materialized and I handed it to Angel. All their eyes were as wide as a Galaxy's saucer section. They fell upon the replicator like vultures. They moved over to one of the bigger tables with mounds of food in their arms.

"Don't forget about me!" Total yelled, hopping on his hind legs. I had Nelen figuring out how he worked.

Crewmen were staring, but I was smiling. I took a seat across from Max with coffee in my hands and watched as they tore through the food.

"So," She says around a mouthful of burger. "What's a spaceship doing on earth?"

"Are you here to abduct us?" Gazzy said.

"Gazzy!" Max said, whaping the back of his head as he cackled.

"No." I said, smiling. I sobered and looked Max right in the eye. "Before I tell you this, you all need to swear to me, that you will not tell _anyone._ Not your best friend, not your mom, you cannot tell _anyone_."

"What?" Iggy said, making a WTF face.

"I need you to tell no one, or everyone onboard could _never exist_."

There was silence for a moment.

"Max." Angel said, with that creepy look. "He's dead serious."

Max turned back to me. "We won't say a word."

I fixed my if-you-do-something-I-will-kill-you look on Gazzy. He shied away. "Good."

"The _Redemption_ is from the future, approximately four hundred and three years. We are part of a big government spanning planets and filled with advanced tech. We got sent back in time by a rift, and we're stuck here because of a problem with our engines."

Max looked at me and said, "Wow."

"Bridge to the Captain."

I slap my combadge. "Go ahead Nelen."

"Sir, we have some new developments.""I'll be up there soon. If you'll excuse me, I have a ship to tend to." I go over to the security officer at the door. "Do not treat them as kids, their too mature for that. If they get too bored take them to the holodeck." The officer nods. I take off to the bridge.

* * *

"I do not believe we are in the same reality."

I do a double take. "Come again?"

"Those kids in our mess hall? Shouldn't be possible." At my questioning look, Nelen continues. "I've gone over the ship's records and analyzed their DNA. They should not exist. Human physiology doesn't accept it. And their dog shouldn't talk. Dog vocal cords can't do that, and transplanting human vocal cords doesn't work. Anything remotely close doesn't have the possibility of working till hundred years from now, and that's if my race had encountered humans." The Voth shook his head. "Plus, scans of the atmosphere seem to show some sort of catalyst. If that goes off, Earth will be devastated."

"If that's true, then we shouldn't do anything about it." I said, relived that DTI wouldn't be on my ass. "At least I can use that, since I told the kids that we're from the future."

"Sir!" A blueshirt ran up to me, out of breath. "I can't find Ensign Karan anywhere."

"What? Did you ask the ship?"

"She was off the ship."

I turned to Nelen. "Find her combadge, I'll get the Commander."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Sorry for the lateness, I just had a hard time with this part, and I had five other projects, plus school, Wings of Redemption was low on the priority list. On another note, I am proud to announce that I am now a Firefly fan. I'll try to keep up with the story, but summer means I want to other things.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wings of Redemption**

* * *

So, after finishing up our ginormous meal (which was the first time in a long time that we filled ourselves, even with my Mom's good cooking) we got bored, so the security dude, who was a damn _cat_ , tail and all, led us through the corridors. My claustrophobia was kicking in slightly, so I felt extra twitchy. The cat paused in front of a set of doors. He gave us a evaluating glance, smirked, and pushed in a set of commands to the panel. He then waved his hand towards the door.

Before I could stop her, Angel walked right in. Didn't I teach her not to go into unknown places where Erasers or Flyboys might jump out at ya?

"Angel!" I said, darting after her. I dashed through the doors and stopped dead.

We were in a grotto. You heard me right, we were outside. There was a waterfall leading into a small pool with birds chirping and everything. I turned around and looked back out the the door, sure enough, there was the hall. The flock spilled inside, open mouthed.

"This is new." Total said. I shot him a look that said "No shit, idiot". I turned to the water and walked over. I dunked my hand in, and sure enough, it came out wet. I proceeded to dunk my head in, to, you know, make sure I was actually wet. I came back up sputtering, and to my annoyance, I heard the flock laughing.

"It's a holodeck." The security guy finally spoke up. "Uses a combination of holographic and replicated matter to complete the effect, so yes, that is real water."

"Well, thank you for telling me that!" I retorted.

"You can also simulate all sorts of things. Space battles, battlefields, explosions. And you can't get harmed."

I nearly fainted as I heard the demo experts giggle. So, they could go and make explosives, yet not worry about getting killed? Someone shoot me now.

"Come on, Max." Fang said, unfurling his wings and shooting upwards.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I replied, shooting after him.

* * *

 _U.S.S. Redemption_

 _1500 hours_

 _Bridge Conference Room_

"Where's my crewman, Nelen?"

Nelen was standing by the main screen. "I went through the sensor logs for around the time Karan was reported missing. The logs show this." The screen changed to one blue blip and two red blips. "The blue blip represents Karan. The other two, well..." Nelen pressed a button and the screen moved. Karan's blip moved to the red ones, then it faded to a dark blue.

"That signifies unconsciousness. Now, I went back through the sensor logs to when the Captain found the flock." The screen changed to a field of red dots and seven green dots with one blue dot in the distance.

"The life sign signatures match those that took Karan."

"Sithspawn." I said after a moment of silence. "Do you have a location?"

"Her combadge reading is sporadic, so I can only get a general reading, but, since she's the only Trill on the planet, except for the _Redemption-_ "

"Nelen." I interrupted. "Where is she?"

"Eastern seaboard. Virginia."

"So? Beam her out!"

"The location seems to have some sort of early inhibitor field. We can get a lock, but it wouldn't be safe to beam her out."

"WHAT?! Twenty-first century earth has transport inhibitor fields?!" I broke off my tirade when I ran out of words. "Commander, prep two MACO squads, assault team three, and have the _Rogue_ and the _Isanto_ prepped for takeoff."

"Sir." Nelen interrupted.

"What?"

"You know we have some intel down in the holodeck."

I had completely forgotten about the bird kids. "Your right, they can probably help us. Get those warp coils finished, Nelen, and find a way back home!" I paused. "Wait, you said earlier that you thought we were in a different universe. Don't sensors scan for a different Quantum signature than ours?"

"That's the thing, sir." Nelen said, shaking his head. "This universe's quantum signature is so similar to ours that our sensors didn't detect it. To the ship, we're still in our universe."

* * *

 _Delta Volaris Cluster_

 _July 15, 2411_

 _1446 hours_

 _U.S.S. Ghostshadow_

"Captain, getting a hail from ESD."

Rear Admiral Carlos Zunigo turned to the viewscreen and nodded. "Onscreen."

The _Ghostshadow_ was on basic patrol and policing duties, and the modified _Defiant_ -class escort, armed with antiproton weapons and plasma torpedoes, had not seen that much action, other than settling a minor dispute between two ship captains who looked like they had a hand in smuggling.

Admiral Quinn's Trill attributes appeared. "Sir, what do you need?" Carlos asked.

"We've lost contact with the _Redemption."_

Carlos frowned. "The _Redemption?_ I've heard of her captain, isn't he from another galaxy?"

Quinn nodded. "We lost contact a day ago at about 1600 hours. She was on a exploration and survey mission in Delta Volaris."

"Really? You put a good captain and a warship on a _survey_ mission?"

Quinn shrugged. "We thought the crew could use some R&R. We're sending you the coordinates. Check them out, look for the _Redemption,_ and report back."

Carlos nodded. "Aye, sir. End transmission." The viewscreen flicked off. "Helmsman, set a course."

* * *

 _U.S.S. Redemption_

 _Holodeck Two_

I winced as I heard another explosion and more cackling.

"Good lord, Gazzy, stop it with the explosions!" Nudge yelled.

I sighed and banked, coming around, seeing the small little pond and the Flock. Fang followed.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Fang asked.

"What?"

"Remember back during our first visit to Itex?"

Oh my god, I did. Just before I burst in to crash Max II and Ari's party (Back in book two), I had seen all sorts of things, things that had seemed to be our worst fears. It was remarkably real. Luckly, as I burst in, it failed. And, now that I realized it, it was remarkably similar to what we were in.

"Do you think this is a fake?" I asked Fang.

"No, but think of the complications. If humans can come this close to stuff from the future, without knowing it-" Fang struggled for words. "These people may be from another place."

"What?"

"I mean, they may be from the future, but maybe they aren't from _our_ future."

"Fang, since when did you become an expert in future tech?"

He fixed me with a 'really?' look in that Fang way.

"Max!"

I looked down. Angel was waving at me. I closed my wings and dived, pulling up and landing perfectly. The Captain was standing there, and he looked _pissed_.

"Max." He said. "Computer, end program and generate a LCARS display."

The grotto disappeared in a flash, a console appeared, and everyone could be seen. Total yipped in shock, and the Gasman had a disappointed look.

"I've lost a crewman recently, and I think I know who took her." The Captain typed in some commands. All of a sudden, an Eraser appeared.

The crew went into immediate (Iggy was slower, but Gazzy alerted him) combat mode, jumping back and dropping into combat stances.

"It's a damn hologram!"

"Oh." I said, slightly embarrassed and slightly ruffled from the Captain's language.

"What is this?" He asked, and I could tell, he was furious at _something_. Thankfully, it wasn't us.

"That is an Eraser. A human-lupine hybrid that is the School's lapdogs. Their born with the mutation and live about five to seven years before they 'expire.'"

"Hm. You see, my crewman got taken by some 'Erasers', and it seems your universe has more tech than it's supposed to, so we have to assault a location to get her back."

"Wait." Fang said. "You said _our_ universe."

"Yep. Turns out, we're not from your future."

"Anyway." I said loudly. "If Erasers are involved, that means that the School or Itex is involved, and we want in."

"No." The Captain said flatly. "It will be nothing short of a warzone in there, and we would have to keep an eye on you."

"We know how to effectively take down Erasers, and besides, you haven't seen Itex's other creations. We want payback."

"I don't!" Total said. "I'll stay on the nice, safe, high tech spaceship."

The Captain gave us a another evaluating look. Finally, he gave in. "Fine. Follow me."

* * *

 _PK-452642B System_

 _U.S.S. Ghostshadow_

"Approaching _Redemption's_ last known location." Carlos' helmsman alerted.

"Copy that." Carlos stepped out of the ready room and took his seat. "Kawtok, take us to yellow alert." Carlos ordered the Klingon. "Laninea, keep an eye out for signs of debris, weapons fire or any abnormalites."

The two stations nodded and went about their tasks.

Five minutes later, they had their answer. "Looks to be some sort of rift. It's pumping out chroniton and tachyon emissions, and has a very strong gravity well. It seems to be expanding."

"Does it pose any threat?"

"We should back up, but it seems it should collapse in about two days."

"If the _Redemption_ was caught in the gravity well sir, I don't think she could get out." Carlos' first officer, Corpsa, said.

"Well, keep us away and send ESD a message telling them about the rift."

"Aye, sir." Comms said.

"Laninea, analyze the rift, see if you can-"

"Detecting tachyon surge!"

"From the rift?"

"No sir!"

The _Ghostshadow_ shook as weapons fire impacted her rear shields.

" _Khnial_ -class warbird detected!"

Carlos swore. "Evasive pattern Zunigo Beta! Get us away from that warbird and the rift! Kawtok, return fire!"

The _Ghostshadow_ rolled around the cruiser's shrapnel torpedoes and executed a spinning spiral that took her behind the Tal Shiar cruiser. The _Defiant_ unleashed matter-annihilating hell into the spindly warship's shields. Disruptors warred with antiprotons and plasma collided with plasma.

The _Ghostshadow_ was putting damage downrange, but she just wasn't built to take the amount of damage she was taking. "Shields down to 21 percent!"

"Attack pattern Zunigo Omega-B! Comms send out a-"

Out in the void of space, a shrapnel torpedo glanced off of one of the _Ghostshadow's_ heavy plasma torpedoes, sending both flying off on ballistic paths. The shrapnel torpedo just detonated, while the heavy plasma torpedo traveled for five seconds, then, when it figured out it wouldn't hit it's target, it detonated in shockwave mode, sending out a shockwave that sent both ships flying.

Towards the rift.

The Tal Shiar ship went straight in, caught completely off guard, while the _Ghostshadow_ rolled out of her spin, but was still caught in the grip of the rift.

"Etip!" Carlos yelled to his engineering chief. "Dump all power into the engines!"

"No good!" Someone said as the rift swallowed them.

* * *

 **Author's notes:** This episode goes into the fact that the whitecoats seem to have very high tech stuff for the time, and how they can still fuck up twenty-fifth century techonolgy. Also introduces Rear Admiral Carlos Zunigo, commander of the _Ghostshadow._ I do not own Carlos as a character, but asked if I could use him from Grey Man Games in this story. Grey Man also did a MR/ STO crossover, which is incomplete, and also inspired me to write this story. So, thanks Grey Man!


	4. Chapter 4

_U.S.S. Redemption_

 _1800 hours_

 _Outside Armory_

* * *

I stopped outside the armory. "Computer, resend my previous orders regarding the Gasman and Iggy."

"Acknowledged."

"Wait here." I ordered the flock.

"We won't go anywhere." Iggy said.

I stepped inside and equipped my armor and gear, grabbing my compression rifle, six personal shields, two phasers and the demo expert's gear.

I exited the armory and all five (exuding Iggy) mouth's dropped. Gassy looked like his eyes would pop out.

"Can I have that?" He said in a small voice.

"I don't think we have any suits that fit wings." I started passing out shields and explosives. "These are personal shields. Just push this button and a shield will conform to you and protect you from weapons fire. Max, Fang." I turned to them. "These are phasers. Just point at an enemy and push this button. It's locked at heavy stun, so, no matter how much you mess with it, it will stay there."

"Why don't I get a phaser?" Gazzy complained.

"Because you're eight, you have explosives and nuclear farts." Max answered for me.

"What about me?" Iggy asked. "I'm fourteen too!"

"You're blind."

"Anyway." I interrupted. "Shuttlebay is this way. We should arrive at the lab in about fifteen minutes."

"Um, could we fly there?" Max asked.

"Shuttle is faster. But, when we near the lab, you can take off."

* * *

 _100,000 Kilometers from Saturn_

 _U.S.S. Ghostshadow_

Carlos woke to a face full of carpet. He blinked groggily and pushed himself up. "Report." He ordered. When no one answered, he repeated himself again, louder. "Report!"

Only now did he look around the small, cramped bridge. Kawtok was skimming his console and only now was Laninea getting up. Carlos crawled over to Corpsa and shook her. She moaned and held her head.

"Uhhhh. What happened?" The Andorian asked.

"We fell into the rift. After that..."

"Shields and weapons at 100 percent." Kawtok reported. "No discernible damage."

"We're 100 thousand kilometers from Saturn." The helmsman said, moving the ship into a standard orbit.

Carlos pulled himself up into his chair. "What about that warbird?"

"I don't detect it, it must have cloaked."

"Laninea, set up periodic tachyon sweeps, random, unpredictable. Kawtok, I want shields and weapons on full, keep your eyes on sensors. We wait for them."

"Sir!"

* * *

 _U.S.S. Rogue_

"Ten minutes out from lab, sir."

"Thank you, Ensign." I turned to Max. "Anything else we need to know before we land?"

"Itex used a robotic version of the Eraser, which we called Flyboys. There might other human-hybrids they've indoctrinated, and other failed experiments." She shrugged. "I don't really know what will be in there, but I do know that there will be actual mad scientists and captive _children_ are in there."

I growled and slapped the intercomm. "Alright boys and girls! We're going in guns blazing. Watch your fire. Stun all scientists and kill anything that tries to kill you. If any of you find children in cages, release them and lead them to the runabouts. Medical teams will assist."

The _Rogue, Istano;_ a captured Romulan Runabout, and the _Encani;_ a _Delta_ -class shuttle packed with medical teams, were all under a watered down version of cloak, which essentially was the shields modified to bend light around them. It wouldn't fool _any_ sensors, 25th century or 21st, but it wasn't supposed to. They were meant to fool radar and prevent people from seeing us.

"Three minutes to the target, Captain."

"Alright." I walked back to the back, which was filled with MACO troopers. I waved some soldiers away from the hatch and punched the panel controlling the ramp.

"Keep an eye on the area surrounding the lab!" I shouted over the wind. "We'll drop our cloak when we land! You meet up with me!"

"Got you!" Max yelled back. She walked back to the ramp, gave me a two-fingered salute, and jumped off. Backwards.

The rest of the Flock took off too, to the shocks and gasps of the MACO elites. I simply smiled and closed the hatch.

"Assault team three, you're with me. We're going after Karan."

* * *

I could hear the shuttles. It was a small whine that regular humans probably couldn't hear. We shot ahead of the shuttles and caught sight of the lab. Located in a remote, heavily forested area, it had the same setup that the School had, with a fenced-in area that they probably had our fellow mutants walk around in.

"I think the shuttles will land over there!" Fang shouted, pointing towards a small clearing that was about four hundred yards from the lab.

"Alright. Angel, what are you getting from the lab?" I asked her as we banked towards the clearing.

She half-closed her eyes and was silent of a moment. "I'm getting some erratic thoughts, those are probably the kids who..." She didn't need to finish. "But I'm getting some stable ones, and others that are just, experiment." Angel frowned. "But, there's something else, like, different. There's lots of them. They seem to be Erasers, but not." She finally opened her eyes. "We _really_ need to be careful."

I frowned just as the shuttles appeared down in the clearing, disgorging futuristic space troops. Who am I kidding, of course they're space troops! Their from the future!

I glided down and landed, easily finding the Captain's red painted armor.

"-the fence surrounds the facility." He was saying to several people who looked like they commanded the groups. "We'll break through and cross to the walls. Stealth up to the wall. We'll coordinate a breach, I want maximum confusion. Stun on first breach. Team one will secure any experiments and the labs. Team two will secure the perimeter. My team will find Karan. Any child you find, you set free and direct back here, where the medical teams will check them over and supply them with anything they need."

"Captain!" I called out. He turned to me. "There's something dangerous in there, something worse than Erasers."

"What?"

"There's something feral in there." Angel said.

"Alright. Watch your backs, call out for help, and be careful. Move out!" He motioned to us. "You're with me."

* * *

We crossed the fence with ease and made it to the building.

"Thobi." I ordered. Thobi was the team's demo expert and was very skilled with assault weapons. Carrying his MACO antiproton Full Auto Rifle, he placed the charge.

"You might want to cover your ears." I told the flock. I started a countdown. "Breach in three, two, one. Go!"

Simultaneously, three explosions erupted and the sound of phaser fire filled the summer night. Thobi threw in a stun grenade and followed it, taking down a scientist and three Erasers.

"Clear!"

I moved in and the flock followed. Gazzy was cackling. Max and Fang followed us covering the room with the phasers, surprising me slightly.

"Qip, where's Karan?" Qip was the team's sensor and comm specialist.

"Three hundred meters that way." She pointed towards a hallway. Now that the dust settled, I could smell antiseptics. It was slightly overpowering. We had breached into a lab, with an operating table. There was blood on it.

I growled in disgust. "Move out."

I burst the door down and sprayed stun bolts. I took down three whitecoats, but the Erasers in the hallway resisted the low power energy blasts.

"Shitspawn." I switched my phaser to kill. But the mutants had pulled guns and started spraying bullets. Fearing the safety of the flock I quickly deployed a Cover Shield. "Thobi, grenade!"

There was a _thunk_ as the grenade launcher mounted underneath his barrel flew over the shield and sprayed the hallway with blood.

I stepped around the shield and made my way carefully down the hallway, covering my corners. "Assault teams, report."

" _Found room filled with dog cages. All contain either children, or some mutated animal, sir."_ Team One's commander said, voice filled with disgust and horror, with just a tinge of amazement. _"We're sending them to the landing site."  
_

 _"We found a morgue."_ Team Two's leader said, and I flinched at his tone. " _It's not pretty."_

I sighed. "Leave the bodies and set thermobaric charges."

" _Wait- Contact!"_ The sound of gunfire and energy weapons erupted from the comm.

" _Watch your left!"_

 _"What are those things-"_

 _"GET IT OFF! AHHHH-"_

"Team Two!" I shouted into the comm. "Team Two!"

Static.

"They're dead, Captain." Angel said, with a terrified look on her face. "Whatever did that is hunting us."

"Blast!" I swore. "Team One, get as many people out as you can and get your asses back to the runabouts. Watch for unknowns."

"Take a left." Qip said. "Third door on the right."

I turned the corner and unleashed a unholy salvo of high-power phaser bolts that speared five Erasers, two panicking scientists and a human-bear hybird that was commanding them.

* * *

I watched as Captain Antilles killed with a cold-hearted fire. It was brutal, it was heartless, and in his eyes I saw the fire of a soldier that carried the weight of too many deaths on his shoulders.

I would have done the same if someone took my family.

Say hello to sympathetic Max!

Antilles stood from his crouch and turned to the door that supposedly contained Karan.

"Captain, watch out!" Angel yelled.

The door shattered as the bulk of a huge Eraser burst through the door, colliding shoulder-first into the Captain, knocking his rifle from his hands. I fired a snap shot from my phaser, but it missed before howls from behind drew my attention. I turned around and froze.

Barreling down the hall on all fours were... well, I don't know. They looked like Erasers, but looked like they were enhanced in every aspect. Huge, bulking muscles, razor-sharp claws a foot long, arched backs with bits of bone sticking out and frothing, bloody mouths. There were over two dozen of them.

Nudge screamed at the gruesome things, and the other members of Captain Antilles' group opened fire. The first two fell instantly, the next two took some bolts, stumbled, and kept coming.

As I stood frozen in fear, a sickening crunch came from behind me as Antilles slammed his Eraser's head into the wall. Taking stock of the situation, he dashed forward and placed down a device. The little thing pulsed before a shield formed, blocking the hallway, but not before three of the rabid... horrors made it through. One knocked over the Captain, and another made a beeline to _me._

I snapped out of my moment and ducked a claw, but the thing's body crashed into me, sending us both to the floor. I reached totally on instinct, holding it's neck back as it's maw snapped at my face, spraying me in saliva and _blood_. Removing one hand, I gave a heel-palm to the side of it's face, knocking it away from my face. I pulled my feet up and pushed it away.

It snarled as it pulled itself up, but Fang moved in with an awesome right cross, slamming it's head into the wall. Moving with customary bird-kid speed, he grabbed it's head and slammed it into the wall. Dazed, the thing shook it's head around before Fang shoved the Captain's rifle into it's mouth.

"No one touches Max." He said, coldly, before pulling the trigger and spraying the wall with, well, brain fragments.

I gasped for air and pulled myself up. The other two things were dead, and the others were clawing at the forcefield the Captain had set up.

"That's not going to hold them long. Mitchel." The Captain said to another one of his team. "Set up a shield trap for containment."

The human nodded and went about it as the Captain walked through the destroyed door. As he entered the room, he froze and I saw his muscles tense up. Walking in, I gasped.

Laying on a table was the Captain's crewman, body cut open, insides exposed for me to see. I turned away and stopped Gazzy, Angel and Nudge from entering.

"You muzt be the alievn." A voice said, and I tensed as I recognized the voice. It was Ter Borch, the mad scientist we had mocked back at the School and the Director's fortress. He was standing by the table, coat bloodied. "I vust adivt, your technology is impressive. The voman was espeitially interesting. It vhas a vascinating specimen."

The Captain crossed the room at a speed that impressed even me, and had Ter Borch in a choke-hold, holding him two feet off the floor. When the Captain spoke, his voice was so cold, I could _physically_ feel it, but also filled with fiery rage

"That 'specimen' was a living, breathing, being that you _**murdered** _ for the sake of an **_experiment_. ** You experiment on _**children**. _ I should kill you right now, but that's too good for you. I think we'll take you back and I'll let Commander Pjoh have her way with you."

The scientist smiled. "Nozthing vou covld do-"

The scientist cried out in pain as the Captain headbutted him and kneed him in the groin. The Captain then threw Ter Borch to the other wall. I didn't flinch in sympathy.

"Thobi, cuff and gag him." He glanced at his crewman's body, eyes on fire. "Set the charges. This place _burns_."

* * *

 _U.S.S. Ghostshadow  
_

Carlos unconsciously gripped his armrests. It had been two hours since their arrival, and the sensor readings weren't good. They were in 2013, and they had a Tal Shiar ship with them. If they got to the Romulans now, they could rule the future, or they could bomb Earth. So the _Ghostshadow_ flew around the system, throwing out tachyon pulses and scanning for warp trails.

"Anything?" Carlos asked as they flew past Jupiter.

"No si-" Kawtok said.

"TACHYON SURGE!" Laninea screamed. "RIGHT ON TOP OF US!"

The helmsman moved as soon as she said tachyon. The _Ghostshadow_ rolled out of the _sheet_ of disruptor fire and shrapnel torpedoes.

"Set phasers to random modulation, let's see if we can't get a lucky shot!" Carlos ordered. "Attack pattern Zungio Zeta!"

"You don't order that unless we're in deep shit!" The helmsman commented.

"WE ARE!" Carlos retorted.

The _Ghostshadow_ closed to point blank and slipped through the shields, to the point where she was weaving in between the spires of the warbird, spiting antiprotons and plasma torpedoes. Shrapnel torpedoes tried to hit the little ship, but, instead, hit their _own_ ship.

The _Ghostshadow_ shuddered, then shuddered harder as a malevolent green Borg beam grabbed the tiny escort. "They have us in a tractor beam!"

"We're being hailed!"

* * *

 _U.S.S._ _Rogue_

I sat in a chair up in the main cabin, staring numbly at the sky. Another crewman dead, this one cut open to sate a monster's _curiosity._ She was another name on the long list of dead that I always carried with me. Biggs Darklighter, Five of Thirty; From Rogue to Starfleeter. I let lose a world-weary sigh. I always lived past them. I felt way beyond my age.

"Admiral!" The pilot called.

I looked up as the air shimmered and the _Redemption_ came into view.

"We're being hailed." The pilot said. "Their telling us to land."

"Get me a line to the Bridge." The man nodded, signaling a comm line. "What's going on, Commander?" I asked as the _Rogue_ lined up to land with the now-mobile _Redemption._

" _We're reading weapons fire and a Starfleet transponder signal coming from Jupiter."_ Tallasa said, urgency in her voice.

I swore. "As soon as we land, set a course, get us there as fast as you can, even if you have to enter warp. But do it under cloak."

 _"Aye sir!"_

* * *

"Onscreen!"

A scarred Romulan appeared on the screen. " _This is Commander Vitral of the Tal Shiar warbird_ Relentless Destruction. _You will stand down and surrender."_

Carlos opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off as a barrage of phaser fire obliterated the tractor emitter.

Decloaking and blitzing forward like a thing afire, the _Redemption_ poured fire into the _Destruction_ as a new voice came over the comms. " _This is Vice Admiral Wedge Antilles of the USS_ Redemption. _You have opened fire on a Starfleet vessel. Stand down or be destroyed, it doesn't matter to me._ "

Apparently the Tal Shiar commander didn't appreciate that, as _all_ of the _Khinal's_ weapons turned on the battlecruiser.

"Kawtok, give the _Redemption_ some support! Torpedoes, high yield, full spread!"

Heavy plasma torpedoes slammed into the _Destruction's_ rear shields as the two weapons of war tore into the spindly warship.

* * *

 _Redemption_

"Shield power down to forty-five percent!" Nelen reported.

"Commander, time to do that thing with the VATAs that you've been wanting to do!" I ordered.

Tallasa laughed manically, the inner Andorian coming out. "Target locked. Firing!" Tallasa announced.

Four VATA projectiles launched and lined up with the warbird. These were, technically, not VATAs, just a shell casing holding nothing but the stuff that made tricobalt torpedoes. Once they were lined up, the _Redemption's_ warp nacelles glowed, forming _four separate_ warp fields, but not around the _Redemption,_ rather, the four missiles she had just launched.

Breaking the light barrier in seconds, and inadvertently performing the Picard Maneuver, the missiles impacted the warbird, and a tremendous explosion erupted from the warbird's shields as the four warp capable torpedoes hit at warp 2.2. The missiles hit with such force that they actually caused several shield generators to overload, and secondary explosions erupted from the vessel, snapping off several spines.

"Marlin, get the _Ghostshadow_ on our tacnet! That thing isn't going to die easily."

Even though the four missiles had done _tremendous_ damage to the _Destruction's_ shields, the giant, Borg-enhanced former _D'deridex_ was still a tough nut to crack, even for two Starfleet ships _designed_ for war.

" _Admiral!"_ A Latino voice came from the comms. " _We were looking for you!"_

"Nice to know, but right now, I need you to disable that thing's warp capability. We can't let her get away!"

" _Copy that!'_

"Torpedoes inbound!"

"Point defense!"

The _Redemption's_ rear turrets flashed in response, picking the plasma and shrapnel torpedoes out of space with precision shots.

"What's the _Destruction's_ shield status?" I asked Nelen.

"Just under fifty-five percent." He responded as the ship shook from another hit.

"We're going to go down a lot faster than them." I mumbled.

The _Khinal-_ class was a former _D'deridex_ that was modified and transformed with Borg technology. It was as deadly and dangerous as an Borg Cube. Normally, I would fall back, but I couldn't risk Twenty-Fifth technology reaching _any_ species.

I looked up as we finished another pass, spotting Jupiter in the background. A plan formulated in my mind and I smiled.

" _Ghostshadow,_ do you have a cloak?"

 _"Negative, sir."_

I nodded. "That's probably for the best. Get on our wing and head straight for Jupiter. Here's what we'll do..."

* * *

Carlos nodded, a smile forming on his face.

"Well, you heard him!" Carlos shouted. "Let's do it!"

* * *

Vitral smiled as the two Starfleet ships ran from him. "After them! Maximum speed!" He ordered his helmsman. "Once we kill them, we'll return to _Rihan_ space and make sure Hobus never happens!" The bridge crew cheered in response.

The massive ship turned in space and gunned her engines, chasing after the much smaller Starfleet ships, which were heading for the nearby gas giant, presumably to perform a slingshot maneuver and jump to warp, leaving his ship behind.

He would not let that happen.

"Fire a spread of shrapnel torpedoes around the two warships; prevent them from severely maneuvering, _amnhhei'saenahe._ " Vitral ordered.

"Yes, _riov."_ The tactical officer replied as the battlecruiser moved to protect the smaller escort with it's bulk.

As the planet grew closer to the point of blocking out the stars, a furious barrage of quantum and plasma torpedoes erupted from the _Lloannen'glade_ ships, exploding just in front of the warbird's shields.

And blinding the sensors and viewscreen for five brief seconds.

Once the sensors cleared, and the viewscreen depolarized, Vitral blinked.

The _Redemption_ was gone. Just gone.

"What the _Areinneye_ happened?!" He yelled.

"I'm reading debris and energy readings consistent of a warp core breach." His sensor officer reported. "We got them!"

Vitral's alarm changed to triumph. "Pound that last ship till it's dust!"

Before the tactical officer could fire, the escort entered the planet's atmosphere.

"I've lost target lock!"

"Follow them!" Vitral ordered, too caught up in his assured victory to notice he was being pulled into a trap.

Just before the _Relentless Destruction_ entered the sensor-dampening cloud soup of Jupiter, Vitral saw a small, gray, pancake-like ship shoot back out of the atmosphere.

His brow furrowed, hesitating for just a second. Then his eyes widened.

That second would cost him and his crew their lives.

The _Destruction_ had been chasing the _Ghostshadow_ as fast as her engines could push her, and that speed was increased as she neared Jupiter's gravity well.

Behind the _Destruction,_ space shimmered again, revealing the previously-thought dead battlecruiser. With a fury of fire that would make any sane commander think twice about attacking, the _Redemption_ pounded the warbird's shields.

The _Ghostshadow,_ which had led the warbird on a merry chase, also positioned herself in the _Relentless Destruction's_ rear arc, out of the way of the _Redemption's_ fire, and, once adding her voice to the fight, reversed the effects of her tractor beam, and started pushing the warbird into Jupiter's atmosphere.

The sheer amount of fire, combined with the warbird's speed, Jupiter's gravity, the tractor repulsor, and another performance of the FTL VATAs, pushed her towards the planet at an speed that it just couldn't recover from.

And they never stopped firing.

The _Relentless Destruction_ descended to the point where the atmosphere started to crumple the hull. Then she impacted the surface of Jupiter at .5 the speed of light. The forward shields collapsed in seconds, not even slowing it down, before the superstructure impacted with earth-shaking force. The impact killed everyone aboard instantly, overriding the inertial dampeners. Then, the 'beak' of the original _D'Deridex_ impacted. It split open like a ripe tomato, rupturing EPS systems, prematurely detonating torpedoes, and turning the insides of the ship to green fire.

Then, the Warp Core was breached.

There was no stopping it. The stress from the superstructure's impact actually caused the ventral tower to snap, colliding with the wall in microseconds.

In a second, the antimatter reacted.

With a detonation that could be seen from Earth, if someone was looking, and the _Relentless Destruction_ died in an way any Klingon would be jealous of.

* * *

I smiled as the bridge crew cheered. "Stand down from battle stations. Good job people!"

Marlin held her hand to her earpiece. "Captain, Rear Admiral Carlos Zugnio requests a meeting with you. Also, Miss Ride will like to talk to you. About staying."

I sighed. "Tell Admiral Zugnio that I'll be over shortly. I'll deal with Max first."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Sorry for the long wait, I had an case of writer's block with this story, as well as other stories. Hope you enjoyed!

 **Romulan Glossary:**

 _ **Rihan** :_ Romulan

 _ **amnhhei'saenahe** : _tactical officer

 _ **Riov** : _captain, commander

 _ **Areinneye** :_ Hell

 _ **Lloannen'glade** :_ Federation Starfleet


	5. Chapter 5

**Just to notify, I've modified the story slightly. Wedge is now a Vice Admiral.**

* * *

In the bridge conference room aboard the _Redemption,_ two humans, well, one human, one part-human, argued.

"What do mean we can't stay?!" I yelled.

"It means you're staying on your Earth." the Admiral replied, looking out the windows at the stunning view of Earth.

"Why can't we?" I was not going to let this man deny a chance at my family's safety. "Going to your time, we could finally be safe. We wouldn't have to run. We wouldn't have to fight these sociopaths anymore!"

"What about your mother and sister?"

"They can come too!" I replied, exasperated. What really ticked me off was the fact he wasn't even looking at me. "I'm tired of running, I'm tired of being the center of everything!"

The Captain was silent for a minute, and my anger grew even more before he spoke. "I have my reasons for not taking you. You may think you have it hard, but trust me, Maximum Ride, there are dangers out there that make those rabid Erasers _pale_ in comparison. There are people in the Federation that would love to exploit your abilities."

"We'll fight them off!" I retorted, undeterred. "It's a chance for my family to be safe, to no longer be freaks. To no longer be orphans."

"I'm sorry, Max. But I can't."

I was on my last straw. "They are without parents!" I yelled. "They never had a mother and father to care for them! You would never know. You would never know what it means to lose something dear to you. Are you an orphan?!"

"I AM!" Antilles yelled, spinning around, . I paused.

He was?

The Captain paused, closing his eyes and calming himself. "My parents owned a refueling station. It was a profitable business, small, but beginning to grow. One day, a pirate ship had landed and was refueling. Security forces that were pursuing soon arrived. The pirates took off without unhooking their fuel lines."

Antilles paused again, eyes closed, and took a seat. I could see tears forming. "A fire started that would consume the station. I was aboard a friend's ship at the time. I talked to them, I _watched_ as they said goodbye and went to separate the fueling module from the station. They succeeded, but they were on the module. They said goodbye to me as the module exploded." The man opened his eyes, and they were filled with a fire that made me flinch.

"They sacrificed themselves to save everyone aboard that station. So tell me, Ride, would you sacrifice your own life to save not only your family, but the lives of others?"

I didn't reply.

The Captain took a deep breath and turned his head to look back out at Earth. "I soon found out the explosion was deliberate, a way for the pirates to escape CorSec. So I borrowed a fighter and shot down my parent's murderers. It changed my entire outlook on life." His head turned an he looked me right in the eyes. "I'm leaving you here because I see a person who is important. In fact, you may be the most important person of your time. I know you're sick of saving the world, I know you're tired of running. But you are a savior."

I nodded. The man stood. "I'm gonna talk to the captain of the _Ghostshadow._ You'll have about an hour, maybe two."

The Admiral left, leaving me to my thoughts.

* * *

 _Ghostshadow_

 _Transporter Room_

Carlos stood at attention as Vice Admiral Wedge Antilles materialized.

"Rear Admiral Zungio." Wedge extended his hand.

"Vice Admiral Antilles." Carlos took it.

"It's good to see Starfleet sent someone looking for us. By the way, how are your warp coils?"

"Warp coils?" Carlos frowned. "I think they're fine. Hold on." He slapped his combadge. "Carlos to Engineering."

" _Go ahead, sir."_

"What's the status of our warp coils?"

" _Fine, sir."_

"That's all. Thanks." Carlos turned back to Wedge. "As you can see, we're all good, except for battle damage. Had a hull breach on deck 4, luckily no one was there. That's it."

Wedge smiled as Carlos led him to the bridge. "Good. I want your chief science officer to work with mine and see if they can figure out a way home. We've made progress, but the more the merrier."

Carlos nodded as the two stepped into a turbolift. "Bridge." The turbolift started to move."Before we ended up in a battle with the _Relentless Destruction,_ the rift was quite large. Laninea said it was due to collapse in two days, but our sensors haven't detected anything resembling the rift."

"Yeah." Wedge stroked his chin in contemplation. "Maybe..."

"What?"

"Maybe its where it is."

"Pardon?" Carlos asked, confused.

"Maybe it's at the same location in the cluster!"

"Ah!" Carlos nodded his head.

"Halt turbolift. Transporter room."

* * *

 _One hour later_

 _High Atmosphere_

 _Redemption_

 _Engineering hangar_

I stood looking out at the expanse of land beneath us.

"Max, you guys ready?" I asked.

"One moment!" Max went back to talking quietly with the Gasman. As I waited, Angel walked up to me. "Hey there."

"Thank you, sir." The little blond said, and then she hugged me.

"Alright, we're ready to go!" Max announced. "Line up and go!"

One by one, the flock dove out of the hangar bay, until Max was left. As she went to run off, I stopped her. Locking eyes, I grabbed her hand and passed her something. "You are the wings of Redemption. Go out there and save the world."

Looking down at the item I passed her, Max smiled. It colored silver-white, it was an view of the _Redemption_ from above, with a pair of wings extending out.

Max walked over to the opening, and stopped, turning around, she put two fingers to her forehead in a salute before dropping.

I smiled as the bay doors started closing. I tapped my combadge. "Bridge, set a course to the Delta Volaris Cluster. It's time we returned home."

* * *

Marcus Mills was bored.

He was a fighter patrol pilot over Saturn, protecting some important scientific station in the most secure system in the Federation.

He had graduated from the Academy and placed _here._ In the same system he had been trained at. And it was _boring._

It didn't help that he didn't have an wingmate to talk to.

Marcus set his fighter's autopilot and leaned back, taking his helmet off and deciding to sleep.

He hadn't even closed his eyes before his sensors screamed and a flash invaded the darkness.

Jolting up and scrambling to put his helmet back on, Marcus stopped when he saw what was in front of him.

It was an _Avenger-_ class battlecruiser, drifting, with lights gradually flickering on. Finally remembering his duty, Marcus keyed his comms. "Saturn outpost, I have an contact, one _Avenger_ battlecruiser, powering up. It just appeared in front of me."

The pilot watched as a small, pancake-like ship rising off the engineering hull. "Correction, make that an _Avenger_ and a _Defiant._ It just detached from the engineering hull."

 _"Copy that, Mills."_ The voice of Saturn Actual came back. " _What's their names?"_

"Uh..." Marcus squinted at his sensor board. "IFF reads the _Redemption_ and _Ghostshadow."_

" _Attention, Flight Officer Marcus Mills."_ A voice intruded across the comm channel. " _This is Vice Admiral Antilles of the_ Redemption. _Could you please get us a line to Command?"_

" _We have a lot to talk about_."

* * *

Carlos Zunigo woke up screaming, covered in sweat. Shaking, he looked down at his hands to ground himself to reality.

 _What the hell was that?!_ Carlos thought. He had just had the most unreal, ethereal dream he had ever experienced. It was like he was a Guardian of time, of space. At least, that's what it seemed like. He was so confused. What did it mean?

His point of view had been attacked, drawn into a trap, and was forced into physical form, but something else happened.

Carlos shook his head again, got up, and walked to the replicator.

He would get no more sleep tonight.

( **For a continuation of Carlos' vision, and what it will lead him to, read the STO fanfic, Through the Strands: Volume 0)**

* * *

Wedge Antilles stood on Earth Spacedock, watching as Earth spun slowly beneath him.

Tallasa Pjoh came up to stand beside him. "The crew has been given official shore leave and the repairs are beginning." She said quietly.

Wedge didn't reply.

Tallasa stood awkwardly until he finally spoke. "I always lose people. It's never me. It's never me who dies, who takes that shot. I get captured, but still, I lose people."

Tallasa frowned. "That's one of the burdens of command, sir. You know that."

"I know. It doesn't help the loss."

The two were silent for a few more minutes. "What's happened to ter Borch?"

Wedge laughed mirthlessly. "He's at a place Section 31 can't touch him, where he'll spend the rest of his days. And it won't be easy for him to get along." He shook his head. "I should have just put him in an EV suit and airlocked him; leave him spinning in the void of space and die of oxygen deprivation."

Tallasa stepped up beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Captain, you'll get by. You always do."

Wedge turned to face Tallasa, smiling. "You've always been there to support me, Commander. Thank you."

And the two stood, looking out into the stars.

The stars that held so many mysteries, just waiting to be explored.

* * *

 **Author's notes:** That's it! It's over! I may or may not do an sequel, but I left the elements there for one.


End file.
